Shoot You Down
by Paradoxilla
Summary: (Re-Make) The Apocalypse has a tendency to wear down people's morals, and Bonnie and Mike are no exception. They had thought they would never abandon a child in need, let alone two children, one injured, one an infant and both in the custody of a man on the edge and a morally ambiguous woman. But they did. And here's what came after (M at times. Accepting OC's).
1. All We Have

_"What did you do?"_

 _"What the fuck did you do?!"_

Kenny's furious words replayed in Bonnie's head continuously, as the pale woman stared at the feeble embers in the pit in front of her. Mike tended to it occasionally, but even he knew it was fruitless to try and revive the pathetic excuse for a fire. All it was doing was producing smoke that would no doubt attract some unwanted attention.

"You ok Bonnie," Mike asked, as he started to quell the pitiful fire "you seem a bit, uh, distracted.." Bonnie sighed and pulled her jacket around her thin frame tighter, trying to ward off the arctic temperatures Virginian winter. Snow covered the ground, and their faces were flushed. Despite this, Bonnie still smiled at Mike.

"I'm fine Mike," Bonnie replied softly, her green eyes not meeting the talker man's brown ones "I just...I hope Clementine's ok..I hope Kenny hasn't done anything irrational or anythin', y'know?" Even though the pair hadn't known Kenny that long, they had seen what he could be like if he got angry. And they knew Clementine probably wouldn't have the heart to kill someone she's known for so long.

"Me too," Mike agreed, as he retrieved his gun "you go to sleep Bonnie, I got this one." Bonnie was about to argue, but a yawn soon overcame her, and she, somewhat reluctantly, got a blanket from their stock of supplies, and pulled it tight around her, before lying down next to the pit radiating heat. Within moments, she was asleep.

Mike watched Bonnie with a small smile on his face, as their single, viable form of warmth died. The African American man sighed, and stared at the sky. Even he knew this was going to be a long night. It would be ambitious to even assume there'd be walkers let alone other people out here. If there were any, they would have died either due to the undead or the extreme weather.

Mike was never used to the cold weather. He'd grown up in the Alabamian sun as a teenager, before moving to the slightly less hot Florida once he reached adulthood. Being in a place like this was definitely a new experience for him, but he definitely didn't like it. He would prefer to be anywhere except her right now. Hell, he'd rather be living in Alabama again, and that was saying something.

With a pronounced frown, Mike recalled what it was like living in Alabama. Sure, the weather was great for whatever you wanted, but a small portion of the people were…less than accepting of Mike's family and himself for their complexion. Every slur you could think of was hurled their way.

Ape.

Negro.

Nigger.

Mike tried to never let it get to him. Of course, that was always easier said than done. His hand ghosted over the scar that began from the corner of his mouth to his ear as he reminisced about the time he had enough of the treatment..

" _Hey, Smyth!"_

 _Mike felt anger bubble in his stomach, but he quelled it enough to turn around and face the three people who were marching towards him with furious expressions. Mike was already aware what had infuriated them, besides his skin colour. But he didn't want to admit more than he had to in case what he was thinking of wasn't what had infuriated the trio._

 _"Smyth, heard you were talkin' to Maureen last night," one of the men, who went by the name Ryland, hissed, his grey eyes gliding over Mike's frame "and both of y'all organised a meet up an everythin'." Mike felt his gut squeeze, but his face portrayed the opposite expression; one of utmost confidence and apathy._

 _"That's right," Mike said coolly, crossing his arms, and he quirked an eyebrow at the thoroughly pissed off man "you got a problem with that? Because Maureen definitely didn't." Ryland's eyes narrowed, and the woman to his left, called Savannah, crossed her arms in anger._

 _"She doesn't know what's good for her," Savannah said spitefully, jerking her head to the side "her family agrees; none of them want mongrel grandchildren of any shit like that." Second by second, Mike was noticing how the people surrounding them were going out of their way to ignore the situation. If a physical altercation occurred, Mike wouldn't have anyone to assist him._

 _"Why don't you stay out of it," Mike suggested, his tone no longer cool, instead it was now icy "because, after all, it is none of your business." Ryland growled threateningly, and only now did Mike realise that everybody had evacuated the area, knowing the imminent chaos that was close to occurring._

 _"It is my business if some Oreo child is gon' be runnin' around my city," Ryland said quietly, but his voice dripped with venom "so you better give Maureen a call, finish it and then go marry a nice blackie lady." It was now Mike's turn for his eyes to narrow and his fist clenched._

 _"Ryland, how about you just mind your own business," Mike said, but this time it was less suggestive and more of an order "unless you like being involved in a black man's love life?" This caused Savannah to snort involuntary and Ryland to step forward so him and Mike were chest to chest._

 _"Shut the fuck up right now, you fuckin' negro," Ryland threatened, trying to make himself look bigger than he actually was to subdue Mike "or else I'll make sure your family'll pay." This chilled Mike to the bone and the dark skinned man glared at Ryland venomously._

 _"You wouldn't dare," Mike muttered, and Ryland smirked._

 _"You wanna test me," Ryland welcomed "because I'll do it. I'll make sure your sister, your dad and that nigger whore you call a mother-"_

 _Ryland was cut off as Mike lost his temper and threw a punch at the sandy haired men, sending him to the ground. However, Mike soon felt a sharp pain to the back of his knee and he buckled. He was turned over and was met with the face of Savannah, Ryland and the third member of their trio._

 _Mike was held in place by Ryland and the third man, while Savannah pulled out a knife that glinted in the sunlight. Mike felt beads of sweat cover his forehead as Savannah cackled madly, and twirled the knife in her hands._

 _Savannah placed the knife against Mike's cheek, and held his head with her other hand. "Good luck findin' love now nigger," Savannah laughed as the blade sliced into Mike's skin._

"Mike!"

Mike snapped out of his daydream to see Bonnie staring at him in with an expression of concern. "Mike, you ok," Bonnie asked, and the ginger woman stood up, clutching a knife "Mike, you're exhausted. I'll take over watch." Mike smiled gratefully at the woman, before Mike took the blanket she previously had, and started to go to sleep, while Bonnie sat down and began watch.

* * *

The next morning, the pair were up in the early hours of the morning as the first light of day began to break over the horizon. They gathered what little supplies they had lying around before walking away from the small opening in the forest and venturing further inside.

"Do you have any idea of where we go from here," Bonnie inquired to try and dispel the smothering silence "I heard Kenny talkin' 'bout a place called Wellington.."

"Kenny is also insane," Mike reminder remorselessly, his words blunt "Bonnie, we're what? Four years into the apocalypse or something? Do you really think a community could've survived this long? And this is all surviving on word. There's no evidence of it."

"Well..yeah, but they can't exactly send scouts out," Bonnie muttered, looking crestfallen "it's stupid to think they'd send scouts out to look for people who might kill them! We have to look for them ourselves." Mike scoffed.

"Bonnie, I'm trying to be an asshole or anything, but c'mon, really," Mike shook his head as he said this "do you really think-"

"Yeah, I do think," Bonnie snapped, fed up with Mike's pessimism "could it really kill you to have a little hope?" Mike realised that he must be becoming tiresome if all he did was complain, so instead he looked sighed.

"I-I'm sorry Bonnie, I'm just a little on edge since Clementine and everything," Mike explained and Bonnie nodded.

"I understand Mike, just try to have a little hope, please," Bonnie asked with a little warmth in her voice "I mean, that's all we have right now, don't we?" Mike then snorted.

"Now look who's not being hopeful," Mike smirked, and Bonnie gawped at the man.

"Oh shut up Mike," Bonnie guffawed and the two fell into laughter. Both knew it wasn't that funny, but they took what they could when it came to humour.

"C'mon," Bonnie sighed, nudging Mike slightly "we gotta get any supplies we can.." Mike nodded in agreement, and the two tread as quietly as they. Currently, there were no walkers around or life of any kind, so that left Bonnie and Mike with a feeling of security.

"You think we should go back to the house," Mike suggested "I mea, they're not staying' there, are they?" Bonnie pondered the idea, before nodding.

"That sounds like a good idea," Bonnie praised, but then put one hand on her hip "there's just one problem: which direction is it in? Because we've been walkin' in all sorts'a directions for a while now. Hell, are we even in Virginia anymore?"

"I, uh…that's a good question," Mike chuckled nervously "how about we just walk and see where it takes us?" Bonnie then gestured to Mike with an outwardly pointed finger.

"Now that's good thinkin'," Bonnie agreed.

* * *

 **That's right.**

 **It's back.**

 **I made a fix of the same plot and same name a long time ago BUT I've fleshed out the plot more and planned everything out by chapter. The plot will be changed DRASTICALLY.**

 **NOW I WILL BE ACCEPTING OC's BUT**

 **I will accept them but these are the terms:**

 **1 - Message me for the format. I will not accept your own format and I will only accept OC's when PMed to me. Not in the Review section.**

 **2 - Your OC has to have at least two flaws, either physical or mental. I will not take brave, good looking characters who are automatically good at everything. A FLAWED, REALISTIC CHARACTER IS A GOOD CHARACTER.**

 **3 - Probably the second most important note: Your OC is not invincible. When you submit your OC to me, you put it under my control, thus I have free reign with it (within the confines of its personality of course). So whenever I choose your OC to die to develop the plot, I will do that.**

 **4 - Your OC will appear in the SEQUEL to this story, as this story is fully planned out. Your OC will not appear in this story, only the Sequel and onwards.**

 **5 - The maximum number of OC's you may submit is 2. If you need to submit 3, you have to ask me and give reasoning why.**

 **Other than that, thank you! Leave a review if you want, and I'll see you next time!**


	2. Who Bombed Nagasaki?

"No, Japanese horror movies will always be better than American ones," Mike claimed, laughing at the dismissive expression on Bonnie's face "the ring was better than the American one, The Grudge was awesome and even Japanese urban legends are better than the American ones!"

"Mike, I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that," Bonnie disagreed, with a smile on her pale, freckled face "Halloween was suspenseful, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is immortal, and The Exorcist is one of the greatest films of all time!" Mike held up his hand to silence Bonnie, and then began his retaliation.

"They may be good, but Japanese films are good too and original," Mike reasoned, and Bonnie went to retort, but Mike stopped her "I mean, America stole the plot of the Ring!" Bonnie was speechless for that moment, before she smirked.

"Yeah, but who bombed Nagasaki? Sure as hell wasn't Japan itself," Bonnie stated, and the two fell into laughter "all I'm sayin' is that Japan may have better movies, but sure as hell America beats Japan every other way."

"I told you, you couldn't win this argument," Mike shrugged with a smirk, but that smile fell as he saw the sun begin to descend from the sky "shit..do you wanna keep travelling, or wait until morning..?"

"I think we kinda have to rest," Bonnie said, her expression impassive, and the ginger woman ran a hand through her greasy hair "I mean, we can't run on fumes." Mike nodded in agreement, and they avoided each other's gazes, hoping the other would go on watch, because truthfully, they both needed sleep.

"Uh, Mike? I'll go on watch," Bonnie offered with a smile "I was supposed to last night but you took over..I figured I'd repay the favour.." Mike grinned, wincing slightly at his injury, before the muscular man stood up on quivering knees, and trotted over to their bag of supplies and retrieved the blanket from it.

"Sweet dreams Mike," Bonnie uttered to the man as he lay down to sleep "because it's the only fuckin' sweet thing you'll get.." Mike couldn't help but snigger at the ginger's woman's words despite the heavy handed delivery, and within moments, he was caught in the clutches of his slumber.

Bonnie sighed and sat down on the tree branch, scanning the area, making sure to defend Mike by any means necessary. The forest around her was vibrant with life, be it the hoot of an owl, the chirp of a cricket or the squawk of an agitated bird. Bonnie, for some reason, felt oddly at peace at the moment, despite their dwindling surprise and the threat of sudden death over their heads.

After a half hour, Bonnie was admittedly becoming a bit on edge. Everything was eerie…too eerie. It was a cliché to become fearful of peace, but in a place and time like this, peace from walkers usually meant intrusion by human. And they weren't always friendly.

Bonnie felt her eyelids droop, and she barely avoided falling out of the tree branch, but only held on by one hand. Bonnie was now wide awake, but she was now swaying dangerously above the unrelenting, icy ground. Even if she landed on her feet, she knew she'd end up cracking her skull on the ice.

Bonnie twisted her head around to see Mike staring at her with a pronounced smirk on her face. "You need any help," Mike asked "because if you don't, I'd love to go back to sleep." Bonnie gazed at him humourlessly, which only made Mike start laughing loudly, which Bonnie knew would attract some unwanted attention.

"Mike, just get me down from here," Bonnie hissed, not finding the humour in the situation at all "seriously!" Mike waved his hands to quell Bonnie's anger, before he stumbled underneath her, still unsteady from fatigue.

"Ok, when I say drop, well, drop," Mike advised and Bonnie rolled her forest green eyes "Bonnie, cool it with the attitude, because I will leave you to fall on the ground. Don't test me." Bonnie suppressed the urge to roll her eyes a second time before Mike steadied his feet.

"Ok, drop," Mike said and Bonnie released her grip on the branch, and fell directly into Mike's awaiting arms "see what cooling it with the attitude will do for you?" Bonnie couldn't repress the smirk and simply let it appear on her face, as she stood on the ground herself, with Mike's arm aiding her.

"Now, I think sitting on a tree branch-"

"Drop your weapons, now, both of you!"

Bonnie and Mike both jumped at the woman aiming a gun at them, while the other girl next to the woman had a less fiery expression, but still had his shotgun poised to fire at them and an expression of utmost suspicion. Bonnie and Mike shared a look of apprehension, before slowly tossing their weapons at the two women.

"Good," the shorter girl replied, brushing at her greasy hair with a free hand, while the girl with a wild head of hair simply shook her head in amazement "Beverly, go get Angelique and everyone else and tell 'em to bring the van, 'cos we got some hostages."

"Hostages," Beverly said with a low chuckle "I-I mean, hostages is a weird thing to call 'em Sandra. I'd rather call 'em, like, slaves or whatever, y'know?" Bonnie suppressed a giggle, and Sandra threw a caustic look at Beverly.

"Beverly, just get the fuckin' van," Sandra hissed, and Beverly rolled her eyes "without any fuckin' comments." Beverly barely managed to repress the urge to roll her eyes and instead threw her hands to the sky, while hoisting the gun onto her hip.

"I swear to Christ, you can't take a joke," Beverly said lazily, walking away "I mean if you took a joke like I took drugs, we'd be best friends!" At the word drugs, Bonnie snapped her head up to look at the wild eyed woman, who was giving both Bonnie and Mike the once over.

"I'll be right back with your carriage, master and misses," Beverly said with an exaggerated bow, infuriating Sandra further "I'm goin', I'm goin'!" And with that, Beverly waltzed into the overgrowth, whistling obnoxiously.

"Ok, you two, just stand there, and things'll be better for you, ok," Sandra advised, her aim to fire slacking slightly "I'm Sandra, that's Beverly, and, uh, what're your names?" Bonnie and Mike stared at each other, and they decided to comply with whatever the woman asked.

"I'm Mike," Mike stated, and cocked his head towards Bonnie "that's Bonnie.." Sandra nodded, before she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Sandra gave the pair a hard look, before backing away slightly. Her gun aim was now sharp and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

From the wood, emerged a large group, and Bonnie noted a quartet of Hispanic people being particularly close and more isolated from the rest of the group. Bonnie was surprised a group had lasted this long; however, both Mike and Bonnie's attention was captured by two people standing at the end of the group, wedding band's both on their ring finger's.

"Hank! Tisha!"

The couple gasped at the sight of the escapee's from Carver's society, however before they could utter anything, a large man with a full beard stepped forward. "Howdy, I'm Tristan, and I'm the leader here-"

"Like hell you are," one of the Hispanic women snapped with a thick accent, running a hand through her bushy head of hair and her dark eyes ran up and down Bonnie and Mike's form "who are you? And what's your business here? And how do you know Hank and Tisha?!"

"They're Mike and Bonnie," Tisha stated, walking forward, but one of the Hispanic men stopped her walking forward with a meaty arm "IAGO! Stop!" Iago gave Tisha a dark look, but Tisha rolled her eyes and walked past him anyway, with Hank trailing behind his fiancé. Tisha stopped short of Mike and Bonnie, before pulling each of them into a hug, Hank copying the action. Behind them, Sandra jolted her gun with each movement.

"Jesus Christ, Sandra, calm down," Beverly sighed exasperatedly, throwing her hand up like she did before "it's not like they're gonna smother Tisha or Hank to death with hugs, so cool it with the Rambo shit, alright?" Some of the group tittered at Beverly's comparison, while Sandra simply growled.

"Shut your fuckin' face junkie," Sandra spit, but a short, tan man with glasses stood in between them with hands up placatingly "fuck off Lucas!" Lucas looked taken aback, but he remained where he was, as Tisha, Hank, Bonnie and Mike finished his short little reunion.

"C'mon, we gotta show you our place," Hank exclaimed and Tisha nodded ecstatically, but Tristan cleared his throat and raised a bushy eyebrow "oh, yeah, uh, we gotta transport you in two different groups for security reasons, though." Bonnie and Mike nodded in unison, as the group split in half.

"Oh no," one greasy haired woman exclaimed indignantly "I'm not gettin' stuck in some fuckin' group full of fuckin' spics!" Angelique whirled around, eyes narrowed threateningly, as she unsheathed her knife, but Lucas, like before, inserted himself between the two warring women.

Angelique slowly placed her knife back in the waistband of her jeans, and stomped away, muttering something in Spanish. Before anything could be done, Lucas grabbed both of the greasy haired woman's hands and shook his head. "Don't even think about it Helen," Lucas whispered as Angelique returned to the group of Hispanic people.

"Fine," Helen snapped, but then pointed at Angelique's back "but if any of them spics try anythin', I'm not holdin' back, I'll take all of them monkey cunts on!" Lucas winced at the use of the harsh language as Helen stalked away, muttering angrily.

"Ok, so Angelique? You take your group and Sandra, and uh, you bring Mike," Tristan ordered, clearly uncomfortable "the rest of us'll take Bonnie." Angelique nodded, and whispered something to Iago, and the two shared a short kiss, before the four of them and Sandra gathered around Mike and brought him into the forest.

The remaining members of the group gathered around Bonnie and started to follow after the first group, while Helen continued muttering angry ranting. Bonnie started walking forward, while Hank and Tisha talked to each other quietly. Beverly smirked and leaned in to Bonnie's ear and muttering "you're a junkie too?"

Bonnie jumped, but Beverly dismissed that. "Nah, don't worry, I'm not judgin', I'm the same," Beverly said and showed Bonnie her arm, which was covered in scars "luckily I was clean before the apocalypse…what about you?"

"I…I, uh, met an old couple," Bonnie explained, and Tisha and Hank both threw Bonnie a curious look "Leeland and, uh…fuck, I can't even remember her name!" Beverly let out a silent cackle, before shaking the laughter away. Bonnie however, didn't see the humour in her story.

"And then, I, uh..we got separated, and I heard someone coming, and me bein' the dumbass I am, I, uh, hit her in the face with a metal bar…" Bonnie ended the sentence quietly, but that didn't stop Beverly from emitting another silent cackle.

"Jesus Christ! I didn't think of you as the murdering type, but you surprised me," Beverly commended Bonnie, but the ginger woman narrowed her green eyes at Beverly.

"I'm not a murderer, it was an accident-"

"Technicalities, Bonnie," Beverly shrugged dismissively, but that only infuriated Bonnie further.

"Fuck you!"

"Can't you take a fuckin' joke," Beverly said, eyes narrowed, the humour now gone from her face and voice "jeez, no wonder you killed a woman.."

"That was a fuckin' accident," Bonnie spit, stopping to fully face Beverly, and the entire group stopped, ready to apprehend Bonnie if needed "I didn't mean to kill her!"

"As I said before Bonnie: Technicalities," Beverly smirked, causing Bonnie's blood to boil "anyway, c'mom, we gotta walk."

* * *

"How much longer 'till we're there," Mike demanded. The dark skinned man was on edge and he didn't appreciate how one of the Hispanic women was leering at him. He knew they had weapons, and without his own, he was victim to whatever whim they desired.

"Shut your mouth," Sandra snapped "just shut up, we're nearly there." The woman, while short, made up for it in personality. The Hispanic group remained contained within themselves, not really joining in the conversation, instead having their own conversation entirely in Spanish.

"Can we at least rest for a second," Mike asked, his lack of sleep now taking effect as his muscles protested "I haven't gotten much rest."

"Well that's your fault, alright," Sandra said, not showing the slightest impulse of mercy "that's on you. Anyway, you can rest when we get back…maybe." Mike grumbled angrily, and followed anyway, as the silence of the forest began to fill the now dead conversation. Even the Hispanic's of the group had stopped talking, instead choosing to either appreciate the wood around them or to ogle at Mike as if he were an attraction at a circus.

"Ah, shit," Sandra hissed, and raised her gun defensively, and so did the rest of the small group "those fuckin' assholes, are lurkin' around our place.." Mike stuck his head out to get a look at the place, and was met with a large enough gas station. However, there were zombies scraping at the defences that looked brittle enough to be stopped by the zombies.

"Shit," Angelique whispered "Mateo and Sofia are in there! Alexis, can you get through to them on the walkie talkie?" The girl who had been staring at Mike hungrily earlier pulled out a walkie talkie that had previously been attached by her belt, and spoke some rapid Spanish into it. After a few tense moments, there was some noise at the other end.

"Mama? They're outside.."

"Sí Mateo, we'll stop them ok," Angelique spoke, snatching the device from Alexis's hand, and quickly bade Mateo goodbye, before switching the device back and returning it to Alexis's possession "we'll take those son's of bitches out, now!" And with that, Angelique and the rest of the Hispanic's rushed forward, weapons drawn.

"I'm joinin' them, but if you dare try to move at all, I will shoot, understand," Sandra threatened, her brown eyes remaining on Mike's form, and seeing that Mike got the message, she rushed forward, aiming her gun at some of the undead, who ambled towards her, arms outstretched before meeting an abrupt end at the hands of the short woman's weapon.

Mike sat back and watched, every movement and sound, whether major or minor, sending the man into a frenzy. If a walker did by chance make its way towards him, he was dead if he remained, and shot if he ran. There was no in between.

Mike looked back and saw the distant silhouette's of the second group coming behind, but could clearly sense that they wouldn't make it in time to assist in the fire fight. Mike sat back, fatigue almost taking over. Until he spotted a small movement from the corner of the weak reinforcements of the small base.

A young boy, no more than six was standing there, his orbital eyes searching for any semblance of his mother. However, Angelique was busy bashing walker's skulls in by slamming them into the ground and crushing them with a hammer. Iago had her back, his immense strength allowing him to utilise a metal baseball bat.

However, a walker suddenly dragged itself from the shadows of the forest, it's groans carrying through the wind. Mike suddenly shot up, preparing to kill the undead creature, but before he could do anything, Sandra's words rang in his head.

 _I will shoot._

Mike stared at the child, who was now aware of the walker slowly making its way towards him, but he was frozen in place, his face contorted in fear. Alexis had spotted the situation, but the young woman was busy struggling to subdue a particularly nasty walker that refused to remain stationary. It kept making its way closer to the woman, and it soon struggled with her, hand to hand. Alexis yelled, but her voice didn't carry enough, and none of the other group could be alerted over the din.

Mike's dark eyes flew between the small boy and Sandra, who was busy mowing down the undead with her lethal gun. What was he to do? Defy Sandra and possibly die or try to save a young boy from death while also having the risk of dying himself?

 **[Run] [Stay]**

* * *

 **That's right! We're utilising choices in this chapter, and every two chapters you will have to make a decision. They will influence relationships between the characters and ultimately, will decide their fates and what happens to them. In your review, or through PM, tell me whether Mike should run to save the child or stay and wait on Sandra's orders.**


	3. No Mouths or Arms

_**OC's featured in this chapter: Hank and Tisha; both belong to TellTale as characters but characterisation belongs to Cloverleaf Neverseen.**_

* * *

Mike's dark eyes switched between Sandra and the young boy, as the undead creature neared said child. Alexis met Mike's eyes and sent a pleading look, and Mike went to look at Sandra, who shook her head, and quickly sent another walker to its doom by shooting it. Mike shook his head and quickly made his decision.

 _ **[Run]**_

Mike sprang from his spot in the forest and sprinted towards the child and Alexis started laughing nervously. However, Sandra did not mirror this expression and screamed "hey!" Mike didn't take any notice of the furious woman's aggravated yelling, and instead continued to make his way towards the child.

However, before Mike could fully make his way to the child, Sandra pulled the trigger of her gun, and the bullet sailed through the air, before striking Mike in his bicep. The sudden pain in Mike's arm caused him to falter, and sent him sprawling to the ground, groaning. Mike heard a sudden cacophony of screaming, and he raised his head to see the walker sink its teeth into the child's leg, and claw at their shoulders.

"NO! MATEO! MATEO," Alexis screamed, and brutally ended a walker's 'life' before shooting the walker that was attacking Mateo several times "Mateo..oh my god, oh my _god_..quick, someone get Lucas, _fuck_!" Angelique noticed the commotion, and let out a strangled obscenity, before springing over to Alexis and Mateo, and Iago followed.

"Mike, go get Lucas," Alexis ordered, her voice quivering, yet her face portrayed an expression of anger, anger that she quickly directed towards Angela. Mike was already running back to the rest of the group, but he did hear the beginning of what was certainly going to be an intense argument.

"Why the _fuck_ did you shoot him?!"

"I ordered him not to, and he defied me anyway! I was gonna stop the fucker-"

"Well you took your fucking time, and now Mateo is bitten…"

Mike didn't want to stay to here what venomous insults would be thrown, but the man knew that Angela would be in danger if left alone. Serves her right, Mike thought but then immediately felt guilty for his impulse of anger. He didn't know Angela that long but he definitely didn't want to see her die, even if she did make bad decisions.

"Lucas," Mike yelled, as he saw the second group come into view "LUCAS!" The twenty something young bespectacled man smiled at Mike warmly, however, he, along with everyone else with Bonnie gasped in horror, seeing a neat bullet hole in Mike's arm.

"Holy fuck, Mike-"

"Not now Bonnie, we got a bite victim," Mike exclaimed, and that caught the group's attention, before all of them ran to the base, and with every step, the screaming of somebody was becoming more and more clear. However, what they didn't expect to happen upon was a large pool of blood growing underneath the boy, accompanied by a bloody knife in Alexis's grip.

"We had to amputate his leg," Alexis said emotionlessly, dropping the weapon, as Angelique held her screaming son, however Lucas noted gravely that he was growing ever paler "Lucas, please, you have to save him.." Lucas nodded, and took the boy into his arms, and Iago and Angelique stood up with him.

"I'll try," Lucas sighed as the three of them ran into their small base. As soon as they left, Alexis turned to Sandra, who was an odd mix of guilt, anger and neutrality. However, Alexis did not appreciate that, and she stormed forward to the slightly shorter woman, before drawing her fist back and punching Sandra mercilessly.

This sent Sandra to the ground, but Alexis didn't wait up and started to launch punch after punch on Sandra's face. It took a few seconds to fully process any of this, and Tristan quickly, with ease, lifted Alexis off of Sandra, who was bleeding profusely from every facial orifice.

"Let me at her! Let me at her-"

"Alexis, I know you're angry, but this isn't the time," Mike said gently, but Alexis scoffed at his words.

"Isn't the time? _Isn't the time?_ My cousin might die, and it's because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger," Alexis laughed bitterly, jabbing a finger in Sandra's direction "the one time she decides to make a good shot and it's in your direction…" Alexis scoffed, before bringing the fourth Hispanic member with her, who remained quiet during the whole confrontation.

Tisha and Hank watched the entire ordeal, clearly uncomfortable, before they shot a few supportive smiles towards Bonnie and Mike, before making their way inside, leaving Sandra, Tristan, Helen, Beverly, Bonnie and Mike standing outside. "Not again," Tristan sighed, and turned to Bonnie and Mike "I'm assuming you two are staying with us for a little while?" Bonnie and Mike both nodded, before Tristan started walking off, rubbing his forehead, with Sandra and Beverly on either side of him.

"I don't mean to be rude or anythin'," Helen said loudly, which earned her glares from Bonnie and Mike "but there's too many of 'em anyway. If he were to die, it'd be tragic, but there'd be another one to replace him."

"Have you no shame," Bonnie hissed, her green eyes narrowed at the blonde haired woman "do you really think this is time for that? Do you really think there's ever a time for that kind of stuff?" Helen showed no remorse and shrugged, before she walked off, whistling, leaving Bonnie and Mike alone.

"Shit Mike," Bonnie sighed, staring at the bullet hole in Mike's arm, which was surrounded by dried blood "maybe Lucas can take a look at it later.." Mike grunted in a non committal fashion, before the pair decided to see what was happening inside the gas station.

As soon as they stepped inside the doors of the run down building, they could sense the tense atmosphere that had enveloped everyone. Lucas was surrounded by the Hispanic group, who were either throwing acidic looks at Sandra, or weeping for Mateo. Helen was reading a book in the corner of the room, not talking to anyone, while Beverly, Sandra and Tristan talked animatedly, yet in hushed tones. Hank and Tisha approached the pair.

"Sorry this's your first, uh, meeting of the group," Hank apologised, stretching his tired muscles "we couldn't have predicted such a thing, honestly…" Tisha nodded in agreement, but before she could say anything, Lucas stepped back from the group, wiping his sweaty forehead.

"He's stable..for now," Lucas stated, adjusting his glasses "but we can't know how he'll develop. It could go either way." Angelique collapsed into Iago's arms, releasing a breath she didn't know she had contained. She looked up at Lucas, and smiled tearily, muttering some Spanish.

However, not everyone reflected this bitter sweet moment, and a tall, mid twenties man coursed forward, and grabbed Sandra by her collar as Angelique and Iago unsuccessfully attempted to restrain him. "Santiago, leave it," Tristian exclaimed, however, the young man didn't relent and instead glared directly into Sandra's eyes.

"If that boy doesn't survive," Santiago hissed "you can guarantee your grave will be right beside his." Sandra maintained an exceptional poker face, but inside she was chilled. Helen watched the altercation with a smirk on her face, while Beverly clapped and cackled at the sight, but she quelled by Angelique's glare.

"Santiago, leave it," Tristan boomed, and the young man reluctantly released his grip on Sandra and returned to his small group, who were crowded around Mateo "ok, so it's clear that we've got quite a bit of drama today. I think it's best if we all calm down, and just-"

"Calm down," Iago spoke for the first time, and Bonnie was astounded at how low his voice went "someone in our group, a child, could be dying, and your only advice is 'calm down'?" Iago finished his sentence with a bitter laugh, and the Hispanics all turned away to look at Mateo and talk in hushed Spanish.

Tristan found no use in talking to a group that wouldn't listen, and turned away, sighing, muttering something. Bonnie and Mike walked over to an unoccupied corner with Hank and Tisha, however a thought suddenly struck Mike. He'd remembered one sentence in particular that Angelique had yelled before they started killing the walkers:

"Mateo and Sofia are in there!"

"Uh, Hank," Mike muttered and the bearded man turned to the African American one and nodded "who's Sofia?" Hank froze for a second before inhaling and exhaling deeply, and shared a nervous look with Tisha. Hank looked over at Mateo who was unconscious, before turning back to Mike.

"Sofia's, uh, Angelique's mother; Iago's mother-in-law," Hank explained "she spends most of her time outside though." Mike's eyebrows furrowed and Bonnie shared that look, and Tisha decided to interject.

"You can see her if you want," Tisha offered, and without any words, Bonnie and Mike stood up and Tisha guided them over to Angelique, who looked at them with a neutral expression. In her hands, she clutched a rosary.

"Hey Angelique, uh, Mike and Bonnie wanna meet…Sofia," Tisha said, her sentence gradually getting quieter and quieter until she reached the unseen woman's name. Angelique exchanged a look with the rest of her people, before Alexis stepped forward, gun drawn.

"I'll bring them," she offered, and without sparing a moment, Alexis brought Bonnie and Mike outside, but not Hank or Tisha, who stayed behind, looking nervous "give me your weapons, no negotiations." Bonnie and Mike slowly handed over their guns, but Bonnie kept a knife concealed in her boot in case push came to shove.

Alexis guided them around the side of the gas station, and Bonnie and Mike gagged at the stench that they received. However, the stench got worse as they reached the back of the gas station. Bonnie stumbled back when she saw Sofia, and Mike almost ran away out of fear.

A walker with greying hair, white skin and milky eyes was chained to a pole, groaning. It's lower jaw was cut off, and it's arms severed from the rest of its body. Alexis watched the walker with apprehension, yet she didn't seem to be completely on edge. She even lowered her gun and placed it in the back of her trousers.

"Oh my god…"

"Don't worry about it," Alexis said to Bonnie, not sparing the ginger woman a look "it can't hurt you. No arms or mouth." That didn't give Bonnie any hope, and she and Mike began to walk back, until Alexis grabbed Mike's hand.

"I need to talk with you," Alexis explained, and gave Bonnie a judgemental look "alone." Bonnie frowned and crossed her arms, but walked on nonetheless, leaving Mike with Alexis. A silence settled between them, filled only with Sofia's groans.

"I want to thank you for trying to save Mateo," Alexis smiled "if I'm being honest, chances are that Mateo won't make it…but I still want to think you for doing that, because…at least it showed you're a brave man." Mike smiled at Alexis's words and shrugged humbly. He didn't want to come off as a show boat.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't leave a child out there to die," Mike explained "I already did that once and I can't go through that again.."

"It's better that you at least tried," Alexis sighed "she may not look it but Angelique is not someone you want to cross. The last time someone crossed her…they didn't make it. Nobody can prove she did anything, but she definitely was involved." Mike felt his gut turn to ice, but before he could react, Alexis continued.

"Sandra has to be careful," Alexis said, placing her hand on her hip "if she makes another wrong move, she could end up as Sofia's unfortunate dinner.." The nonchalant tone Alexis took on scared Mike in all honesty.

"Helen too," Mike said and Alexis let out a bark of laughter.

"Helen's already crossed Angelique a lot of times," Alexis stated, staring at the ground "if she does one more thing, she's definitely not gonna make it…anyway, let's get back to the group." Mike and Alexis both walked back into the gas station, while Santiago watched, glaring.

Alexis returned Mike and Bonnie's weapons, and they pocketed them, although they were stared at by most of the group. "I'm goin' outside," Bonnie murmured to Mike, and she strolled outside, holding herself. The groans of Sofia from behind the gas station chilled her. What would happen if the walker got out in the middle of the night?

Bonnie sat on the ground and she looked down, sighing. How did it come to this? Just about a week ago, she and Mike were members of a community. Was it perfect? No. But she'll be damned if she didn't miss the food, electricity and water. She could even justify Carver's actions to an extent. He only utilised brutality if it was warranted against insurgents.

The snap of a twig sent Bonnie's gaze into the tree line, where her stomach turned to ice when she saw a figure standing there, staring. Bonnie pulled out her gun, and was ready to kill. She coursed forward, however, she stopped short when she saw how the figure didn't stumble forward or breath in a ghastly manner like a walker would.

Upon further inspection, the figure was draped in furs, and their hair knotted. And one thing Bonnie took immediate notice of was the horrifying stench emanating from them. She then saw a patchy black substance on his body, and Bonnie took a deep inhale, before releasing the breath through her mouth.

 _Walker blood._

"HEY! HEY, GET OUT OF HERE," a voice suddenly interjected, and Bonnie sprang back, falling onto her back, while the figure fled. Bonnie looked back to see Alexis and Santiago running forward, guns drawn.

"Bonnie, get inside," Santiago ordered, his face unreadable.

"I don't think I-"

"Bonnie, go inside," Alexis said, her voice icy, and her eyes daring Bonnie to defy them. With narrowed eyes, Bonnie walked back in, but that turned into a run. Who was that person and what were they doing watching Bonnie?

 _This place kept getting weirder by the second._

* * *

 _ **Hey y'all, I'm back! And yes, the majority vote voted for Mike to run to the child; if it makes you feel better, no matter what, the child would have been bitten, so the choice only really effects relationships. That's all I needed to say so, bye!**_


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